At least, that's according to analyst firm Strategy Analytics. On its blog the company notes that taken together, Lenovo and Motorola have a 6 per cent global market share when it comes to smartphones — based on the firm's 2013 data.

Such is the dominance of Samsung, at 32 per cent, and Apple, at 15 per cent, that this is enough to boost the newly combined Lenovo and Motorola entity to number three in the world.

It's also a reminder for Western consumers that Lenovo has a very solid base of smartphone users in China and other areas, even if the phones have been slow to arrive in the US and Australia.

Opening up these other markets via the known Motorola brand is obviously a key reason for Lenovo's purchase, along with the patent licenses.